Arrest In Hampton Slaying Comes In L.a. After Tv Show

January 19, 1991|By RON SHAWGO Staff Writer

HAMPTON — A crime prevention television show is being credited for the arrest in Los Angeles Tuesday of Carl Anthony Thomas Jr., a suspect in the violent knife attack and slaying of a Hampton man 10 months ago, police said.

Thomas is charged with killing Ingid I. Williams, 24, and injuring Karen Spencer in a Newport News Avenue duplex adjacent to Darling Stadium on March 17. Police declined to give a motive for the slaying before interviewing Thomas.

It was Spencer who called police about the attack shortly before 4:30 a.m.

Thomas was arrested by the FBI and L.A. police after the crime was profiled this month on Crime Stoppers 800, a nationally televised program, said Capt. R.E. Bingman. Police Chief Pat Minetti had sent a letter to Crime Stoppers in October requesting the Hampton crime be aired, Bingman said.

The syndicated show, which airs segments on fugitives and unsolved crimes, is not shown locally, said Sgt. Craig Michael.

Police had information that Thomas was no longer in the Hampton Roads area but had no idea where he was, Michael added.

Hampton police supplied the arresting agencies with information on Thomas' whereabouts after receiving 15 calls to Hampton Crime Line from informants following the program, Bingman said. Crime Line offers up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest.

One caller revealed Thomas' location in L.A., where he was living under an assumed name, Bingman said. Thomas was living in a shelter for homeless people and was arrested unarmed without incident, Michael said.

At the time of Williams' slaying, six children - the oldest 10 - were in an upstairs room but were not harmed and did not witness the attack, police said. Sources said Williams was stabbed repeatedly with a knife. Spencer also was stabbed and hospitalized.

Thomas, who stands 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 205 pounds, has a criminal record dating to 1977. He twice was found guilty of unlawful wounding in two incidents in 1984. In one of those cases he also was convicted of using a gun in the crime. He was sentenced to three years in prison and paroled in July 1985.

Michael said Thomas apparently will not fight extradition. Police plan to pick him up Tuesday, he added.